Trump's attorneys are working overtime to keep the FBI from looking at the documents they retrieved from Michael Cohen.

Courtesy of the AP: 

Lawyers for President Donald Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, have told a federal judge in New York that they believe some of the documents and devices seized from Cohen during an FBI raid are protected by attorney-client privilege, and they want a chance to review the material before prosecutors get to examine them. 

Prosecutors and the attorneys for Cohen and Trump appeared before U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood on Friday in Manhattan. 

Cohen’s attorneys say they want a chance to review documents seized in the raid on Monday and specify items they believe aren’t relevant to the investigation. 

An attorney for the president, Joanna Hendon, told the judge that Trump has “an acute interest in this matter.”

Oh yeah, I'll bet.

Here's more: 

Federal prosecutors say in a court filing that the criminal probe that led them to raid the offices of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer this week is focused on his “personal business dealings.” 

In the filing with a court in New York, prosecutors blacked out a section describing what crime they believe Trump attorney Michael Cohen has committed. 

But they provided new details on the investigation, which they said has been going on for months. 

They said agents had already searched multiple email accounts maintained by Cohen. 

The filing said none of those emails was exchanged with Trump.

(Quick note, Trump does not use email.)

Ultimately the judge granted Trump's "right to intervene," a move that allows his attorneys to review the seized documents in order to protect Trump's rights, but demanded that Cohen show up for a hearing on Monday.

And she was not at all happy.

Judge isn't denying motion now. But she isn't pleased.

"If you don't have the answers by 2 p.m. on Monday, I’m likely to discount the argument that there are thousands or more privileged documents," she tells Cohen's attorneys.

— erica orden (@eorden) April 13, 2018

Part of the Fed's argument against the executive privilege claim is that Cohen is a fraud of a lawyer:

Michael Cohen is a fraud of a lawyer who works exclusively for President Trump, federal prosecutors charged Friday. 

“Cohen has told at least one witness that he has only [one] client — President Trump,” the lawyers wrote in court documents, challenging Cohen’s claims that records seized in raids on his home and office Monday should be protected by attorney-client privilege. 

And he’s barely doing any “legal work” for Trump, either, they claim. 

“[Reviews of the records] indicate that Cohen is in fact performing little to no legal work, and that zero ­e-mails were exchanged with President Trump,” according to the brief, filed in Manhattan federal court. 

In fact, the criminal investigation into Cohen isn’t about his work as a lawyer, “but rather relate[s] to Cohen’s own business dealings,” the feds argued.

According to Michael Avenatti there is a "very good chance" that some of the siezed documents pertain to his client, Stormy Daniels, and he suggests that she might just show up on Monday to observe the hearing.

Sure, why not?

After all it really isn't a party until the porn star shows up, right?

Over the summer Donald Trump repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to end their Russian investigation.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

President Trump over the summer repeatedly urged senior Senate Republicans, including the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to end the panel’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, according to a half dozen lawmakers and aides. Mr. Trump’s requests were a highly unusual intervention from a president into a legislative inquiry involving his family and close aides. 

Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, the intelligence committee chairman, said in an interview this week that Mr. Trump told him that he was eager to see an investigation that has overshadowed much of the first year of his presidency come to an end. 

“It was something along the lines of, ‘I hope you can conclude this as quickly as possible,’” Mr. Burr said. He said he replied to Mr. Trump that “when we have exhausted everybody we need to talk to, we will finish.” 

In addition, according to lawmakers and aides, Mr. Trump told Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, and Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri and a member of the intelligence committee, to end the investigation swiftly.

Well my friends that smells an awful lot like  obstructionism to me.

And don't forget that Trump fired James Comey for refusing to end the FBI investigation, and that Devin Nunes has been working to sabotage the House investigation, as well.

It seems like every single day there is more evidence to support impeachment.

You may not always agree with California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, but you have to admit she's a bad ass.

Maxine Waters is a total boss. I'm going to work "reclaiming my time" into every convo I have now. pic.twitter.com/nv3RjPyw9j

— Girls Really Rule. (@girlsreallyrule) July 29, 2017

"Reclaiming my time" should be the clarion call for the Resistance.

We will work hard to reclaim the time that the Trump administration stole from us for moving this country forward.

During Senate hearing Al Franken calls Donald Trump out for spreading Russian propaganda.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

The Minnesota Democrat questioned FBI counterintelligence chief Bill Priestap and Justice Department national security official Adam Hickey about whether they had reason to doubt the intelligence assessment that Russia attempted to influence the election, and they agreed there was no evidence to question that finding. 

“Just last week, the newly minted White House communications chief Anthony Scaramucci appeared on CNN and said, quote, ‘Somebody said to me yesterday — I won’t tell you who — that if the Russians actually hacked this situation and spilled out those ­e-mails, you would have never seen it,’ Franken said.

As I mentioned yesterday Scaramucci identified that source as Donald Trump, and then of course the New York Times reported that Trump got that propaganda straight from Vladimir Putin. 

“The president of the United States is taking the word of Vladimir Putin over that of the U.S. intelligence agencies, which demonstrates a stunning lack of confidence in the men and women who put their lives on the line to keep us safe,” Franken said. “The president of the United States then goes on to repeat that Russian lie to the American press and to Mr. Scaramucci, effectively spreading Russia’s misinformation for them.”

Franken followed that up by  quoting from testimony by James Comey which stated that the Russian hacking was "unusually loud" as if they not only wanted to be identified as the hackers but that they wanted it to be reported in the media that they had successfully penetrated the American election process.

Both Priestap and Hickey agreed with that assessment.

So to be clear not only is Donald Trump spreading Russian propaganda, but it is propaganda which completely contradicts the findings of the FBI and other security agencies who state clearly that Russia was not even attempting to be sneaky.

And the fact that Donald Trump is a tool of the Kremlin is now part of the Senate record.

Both Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort have managed to weasel out of testifying in a public hearing. At least for now.

Courtesy of CNN: 

The leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee have cut a deal with President Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort to avoid being subpoenaed for a high-profile public hearing next week, with the two men agreeing to provide records to the panel and to be privately interviewed ahead of any public session. 

In a joint statement, panel Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking member Dianne Feinstein said, "(W)e will not issue subpoenas for them tonight requiring their presence at Wednesday's hearing but reserve the right to do so in the future." 

Feinstein tweeted later Friday evening, "The Judiciary Committee will talk to Trump Jr. & Manafort before they testify in public, but we will get answers."

Dammit! There goes my plans for the week.

I was REALLY looking forward to watching Junior sweating it out while being grilled by the Democrats.

Now what am I going to do with all of this popcorn?

Still, the threat of a subpoena is not actually off the table, and I have to believe that at some point in the neat future Manafort and Junior will get their time in the spotlight.

Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort are all scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee next week.

Courtesy of the Independent:  

Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort are to testify before the US Senate Judiciary Committee in relation to a meeting with a Russian lawyer who promised to provide incriminating information about Hillary Clinton. 

The meeting has come under intense scrutiny as part of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 US election and possible collusion on the part of the Trump campaign. 

Mr Trump Jr and Mr Manafort are to appear in front of the committee on July 26, but Mr Kushner is due to appear on July 24 in a closed session.

Mr Kushner’s lawyer Abbe Lowell said his client is voluntarily cooperating with the congressional probes into the now notorious meeting. 

In addition, Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who organised the meeting with Mr Trump Jr, has also said she would be happy to testify.

Oh I am DEFINITELY clearing my calendar to watch this.

I just wish that Kushner's was an open door testimony as well.

Maybe he is just afraid that people will mock his little boy voice if he appears on television.

But don't worry he is certainly not out of the woods yet.

Courtesy of Newsweek: 

The Congressional oversight body that holds U.S. employees accountable and exposes government fraud and abuse voted unanimously Wednesday to investigate why senior Trump administration officials have been granted security clearances. 

Senior advisors to the president, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions were all given security clearances after “omitting significant information about foreign contacts from their applications,” said a statement from Illinois House Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi.

And the noose gets a little bit tighter.

P.S. After I wrote this I saw a few talking heads on TV suggesting that Junior and Manafort would be idiots to agree to show up for this hearing, and I got a little worried.

But then Senator Dianne Feinstein came along to put those concerns to rest:  

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Thursday she isn't concerned about Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort agreeing to testify before a Senate panel, because if they don't "they'll be subpoenaed." 

"Am I concerned? No, I'm not concerned, because if they don't they'll be subpoenaed," Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters.

And there you have it.

Junior and Manafort might TRY to avoid testifying next week, but they will ultimately testify one way or the other. 

Jeff Sessions during his Senate hearing today, "I don't recall, I don't remember, I don't like to be rushed." Update!

I wanted to embed the Kamala Harris questioning because I loved how unrelenting she was in trying to get Sessions to tell the truth.

And this is my favorite part of her questioning.

I love this song. #SessionsHearing pic.twitter.com/CejALVymeT

— Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) June 13, 2017

Kamala Harris tore Sessions a new one today and he got his tiny little elfin feelings hurt, which inspired John McCain, who is not a member of this committee, to ride to his rescue.

Earlier in the hearing Sessions called any accusation that he helped or was aware of any collusion with the Russians an "appalling and detestable lie": 

"Further, I have no knowledge of any such conversations by anyone connected to the Trump campaign," Sessions said. "The suggestion that I participated in any collusion or that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor for 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie." 

Sessions also refused to talk about any of this conversations with Trump:

Sessions confirmed that he had left Comey on his own with Trump in the Oval Office alone February 14, though declined to say whether he was ordered to do so by the President citing the need to keep his conversations with him private. He also said that Comey had later told him he was concerned about the meeting, but he did not say that something improper occurred. 

Oddly enough Sessions also claimed that he had never been briefed on the Russian hacking: 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said during new sworn testimony that he has never received a briefing on Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. 

"It appears so, the intelligence community seems to be united in that," Sessions said Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee, in response to a question from Maine Senator Angus King about whether Russia worked to influence the election. "But I have to tell you Senator King, I know nothing but what I've read in the paper. I've never received any detailed briefing on how hacking occurred or how information was alleged to have influenced the campaign." 

King asked Sessions, now the top law enforcement officer in the country, to confirm that he never received any briefing on the Russian measures in the election. "No, I don't believe I ever did," Sessions replied.

Now either Attorney General Jeff Sessions just perjured himself, or he is completely unfit for the position of Attorney General, because it would seem to be impossible for an AG to do their job without having many substantive briefings on the fact that the Russian government hacked into our election in an attempt to manipulate the results.

Update: Al Franken weighs in.

Fire from Al Franken: "He’s trying to downplay the gravity of and whitewash the fact that he misled the Senate Judiciary Cmte under oath." pic.twitter.com/TK3LdNNllf

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 13, 2017

Attorney General abruptly cancels plans to testify in open hearing, opts for closed hearing instead.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Attorney General Jeff Sessions was scheduled to testify publicly next Tuesday before the House and Senate appropriations committees. On Saturday, he abruptly canceled. 

In letters to the chairmen of the committees, Sessions writes that he will send his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, to the hearing instead. In explaining the cancellation, Sessions writes that he believed that members of the committees were planning on asking him about “issues related to the investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election.”

Gee, ya think?|

Of course that is what they are going to ask him, as well as questions about just how many meetings with Russians did he have that he has failed to report?

Sessions did not decide to skip all testimony however.

Courtesy of Reuters:  

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a letter on Saturday that he will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday to address matters former FBI Director James Comey brought up this week in testimony to the same panel. 

In a letter seen by Reuters, Sessions told Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, that the intelligence committee is the "most appropriate" place to address matters that came up during Comey's hearing on Thursday.

This Reuters article does not specify if this will be an open or closed hearing, but other reporting suggests that it will be closed.

Which I think is predictable since James Comey all but accused Sessions of having his own Russian problem, and there is no way that testimony will not come up during any hearings with Sessions.

I am really hoping that there is an open hearing coming up, because I would really enjoy watching this little Keebler Elf sweating his tiny balls off while being scrutinized about his association with the Russians and just why he did not respond to Comey's requests to never leave him alone with Trump.

James Comey Senate Testimony Open Thread! Update!

Today James Comey will give perhaps the most anticipated testimony since Watergate.

Or at least since Hillary Clinton's eleven hours of testimony during the Benghazi witch hunt.

If you are in a bar in Washington DC you might be enjoying free drinks.

Or you may have called in sick to work.

Whatever the case I am sure that you, like me, can barely concentrate on anything other than what may or may not be said during this hearing.

We did get a preview yesterday of Comey's opening remarks, the rest we will have to learn in real time.

I will try to liveblog this as it goes along, and you can also follow me on my Twitter page for updates.

I will also post Trump's Twitter reaction, if there are any.

Let's get this party started.

Update: Oh I love this news.

President Trump will dispute he asked James Comey for loyalty https://t.co/etzFZySVpV

— TIME (@TIME) June 8, 2017

Update 2:

James Comey: Trump Admin ‘Defamed’ Me and the FBI With ‘Lies, Plain and Simple’https://t.co/dztDq8ULfB pic.twitter.com/RyFbU6pihd

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) June 8, 2017

Not a good idea to piss off the former head of the FBI.

Update 3: Comey did not feel this way about President Obama.

Comey: “I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting” https://t.co/6jHeMTcq9R

— Mike Allen (@mikeallen) June 8, 2017

Update 3: Apparently rather than tweeting from either of his two official accounts Trump is working through his kid.

Washington DC at its finest. This is what America rallied against, but the DC elite don't get it or know any other way. https://t.co/H5SszE4uL4

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 8, 2017

It's sad that the left today would rather see America suffer and fail than to see it succeed with @realDonaldTrump at the helm. #maga

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 12, 2017

Trump is such a little snowflake.

Update 4: If Trump has tapes Comey would like them released.

Comey, asked about the possibility that Trump recorded their interactions: "If he did, my feelings aren't hurt. Release all the tapes." pic.twitter.com/Pbs229SRzX

— POLITICO (@politico) June 8, 2017

Let me second that.

That would be AWESOME!

Update 5: 

"I was fired to change in some way the nature of the Russia investigation." And there it is.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) June 8, 2017

Yep.

Update 6: That was just fucking sad.

My response to @SenJohnMcCain attempting to suggest that there was a double standard with how Comey treated Hillary as opposed to Trump. pic.twitter.com/vD9BYEeoqK

— Gryphen 2009 (@Gryphen2009) June 8, 2017

Update 7: Wait! It's over?

How come nobody ever sits for an 11 hour hearing like Hillary was forced to endure?

Okay what did we learn? The following:

• Comey was pressured to drop the Flynn investigation. 
•  Comey did not want to be in the same room alone with Trump, just like every woman on the planet.
•  Comey could not answer whether or not there is any evidence of collusion between  Trump and Russia.
• Comey thinks Trump is a liar.
• And Senator John McCain may have slipped into dementia right before our eyes.

I wanted more, but it sounds like in order to get it I would have to listen in on the closed hearing that is happening next. That one sounds as if it will be much more entertaining. 

Donald Trump threatens James Comey over possibility of taped conversations.

James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017

Holy shit! Is this man actually threatening the man he just fired as the head of the FBI?

This has to be in response to the New York Times article that claims Trump asked Comey for a pledge of loyalty:  

As they ate, the president and Mr. Comey made small talk about the election and the crowd sizes at Mr. Trump’s rallies. The president then turned the conversation to whether Mr. Comey would pledge his loyalty to him. 

Mr. Comey declined to make that pledge. Instead, Mr. Comey has recounted to others, he told Mr. Trump that he would always be honest with him, but that he was not “reliable” in the conventional political sense.

By Mr. Comey’s account, his answer to Mr. Trump’s initial question apparently did not satisfy the president, the associates said. Later in the dinner, Mr. Trump again said to Mr. Comey that he needed his loyalty. 

Mr. Comey again replied that he would give him “honesty” and did not pledge his loyalty, according to the account of the conversation. 

But Mr. Trump pressed him on whether it would be “honest loyalty.” 

“You will have that,” Mr. Comey told his associates he responded. 

Damn!

To me this sounds as if Trump was trying to pressure Comey into sabotaging the Russia probe and to instead agree to protect Trump from possible prosecution or impeachment.

Of course the White House is denying this account. (Of course.)

One has to wonder if part of Trump's concern is over the fact that Comey has been invited to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee nest Tuesday?

Sen. Mark Warner says he and Chmn. Burr have invited James Comey to testify before the Senate Intel Committee on Tuesday. — via @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/4zmnh8vQWs

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 10, 2017

Courtesy of Second Nexus: 

A day after being fired by Donald Trump, FBI Director James Comey was invited to testify in closed session in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee next Tuesday, May 16. The invitation was extended by both the committee’s Republican Chair, Senator Richard Burr, as well as its Democratic ranking member, Senator Mark Warner.

I am hoping like hell that Comey takes them up on this.

Clearly he has much to share, and now without the constraints of being the actual director of the FBI he might be a little more forthcoming than he was during his last appearance before the Senate.

I still assume that he cannot share classified information, however he should feel more free to share information about conversations he had with Trump, or with Trump associates.

Donald Trump's Twitter response to the testimony from Sally Yates was...you know...predictable.

Director Clapper reiterated what everybody, including the fake media already knows- there is "no evidence" of collusion w/ Russia and Trump.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Yes but Sally Yates said she could not answer this question due to the information being classified.

Sally Yates made the fake media extremely unhappy today --- she said nothing but old news!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Did he even watch the same testimony we watched yesterday?

The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

I'm guessing when you are in jail.

Biggest story today between Clapper & Yates is on surveillance. Why doesn't the media report on this? #FakeNews!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

Incorrect again. If anything Clapper put to rest any notion that there was any illegal or politically motivated surveillance directed at Trump and his associates.

The surveillance that was done was for the safety of the country.

By the way there is now some concern that Trump attempted to threaten Sally Yates with this tweet before the hearing:

Ask Sally Yates, under oath, if she knows how classified information got into the newspapers soon after she explained it to W.H. Counsel.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2017

No I think that every day we are getting closer and closer to proving that the Trump-Russia collusion story is anything but "a total hoax."

James Comey claims that he is made "mildly nauseous" by the idea that he may have affected the outcome of the 2016 election.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Mr. Comey said he went public on Oct. 28 because he believed that the emails found by his agents might provide insight into Mrs. Clinton’s reasons for using a private server as secretary of state and might change the outcome of the investigation. Failing to inform Congress, Mr. Comey said, would have a required an “act of concealment.” 

“Concealment, in my view, would have been catastrophic,” he said, adding later that he knew the decision would be “disastrous for me personally.” 

What Mr. Comey viewed as concealing, Justice Department officials viewed simply as following the rules. The F.B.I. does not normally confirm ongoing investigations. Senior Justice Department officials urged him not to send a letter to Congress informing them that the bureau was examining the new emails.

I have to say that I was made more than just mildly nauseous by Comey's contention that he only had two choices before him, and that he made the one that he believed would NOT be "catastrophic."

In my opinion the truth is just the exact opposite, and that if Hillary had won, and it had been revealed that Comey kept quiet about any new evidence, it would only have added more fodder for the investigations that the Republicans were already preparing to launch once she was in the White House.

In the end it would only have resulted in some Republicans bitching about Comey on Twitter and then calling him to endlessly testify before Congress about what he learned, which they would have done if Clinton won no matter what he had said, or not said, before the election. 

After listening to Comey's testimony I came away with the sense that he has really worked hard to convince himself that he had no choice in going public, but that at some level he realizes that he fucked up.

Here was another exchange, this time with Senator Al Franken, discussing the importance of looking into Trump's financial records and tax returns to help understand why Putin chose to help him win the election.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

The Minnesota Democrat laid out business relationships between Trump, his White House staff, cabinet officials, campaign advisers and Russia, and he asked whether FBI investigators had access to the president’s tax returns. 

Comey declined to say whether investigators had viewed Trump’s taxes, but he agreed that had Russia in the past exploited financial arrangements to influence politics abroad. 

“I hope people don’t over-interpret my answers, but I don’t want to start talking about anything — what we’re looking at and how,” Comey said. 

He agreed that intelligence agencies believed Russia had a clear preference for Trump, which he said was based in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dislike for Hillary Clinton. 

“The intelligence community assessed that Putin believed he would be more able to make deals, reach agreements with someone with a business background rather than someone who had grown up in more of a government environment,” Comey said. 

He declined to say whether investigators believed Trump was vulnerable to manipulation through his business contacts with Russians, including the oligarch who purchased a Palm Beach, Florida, mansion from him a decade ago.

I thought that Franken's questions were some of the best of the hearing, and I thought that he probably touched on many of the things that the FBI are likely looking into concerning possible collusion between the Trump team and the Russians.

Other things we learned, or had reinforced, during the testimony:

• That the "thousands of emails" which were on Anthony Weiner's laptop were there because Huma Abedin sent them there to be printed off so that Hillary could review the hard copies later. 
• That initially Comey thought these might be some of mysterious "missing" 30,000 e-mails that the Republicans had made a cause celeb during their numerous investigations into Clinton. 
• The investigation into the ties between the Trump campaign and Russia is still ongoing.
• Comey said that journalists who receive classified information are not criminals, but that the folks who send them that information might be.
• Comey does not consider what Wikileaks does as legitimate journalism, and claimed they traffic in "intelligence porn."
• That the Russians are STILL interfering in American politics, and in European politics as well. 
• And Comey says that they are "the greatest threat of any nation on earth."

My take away from this hearing was that Comey is simply covering his own ass, that he was more afraid of his own agents than he was of the consequences of his interference, and that currently he is very serious about investigating Trump's ties to Russia.

That sounds like very good news for us, and not so good news for a certain tangerine colored tyrannical toddler.

Perhaps the most important thing we learned from the Senate Intelligence hearing yesterday.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

In a moment that stunned the hearing room, Watts (Clinton Watts, a senior fellow at the George Washington Center for Cyber and Homeland Security) flatly stated that the president himself has become a cog in such Russian measures. When asked by Oklahoma Republican James Lankford, who appeared visibly dismayed, why, if Russians have long used these methods, they finally worked in this election cycle, Watts’ answer was extraordinary. 

“I think this answer is very simple and is one no one is really saying in this room,” he said. Part of the reason, he went on, “is the commander in chief has used Russian active measures at times against his opponents.” 

To buttress the claim that Trump (unwittingly or not) aided Russian disinformation efforts, Watts cited several instances. Among them: Trump’s citation of an apparently false Sputnik story at an October 2016 campaign appearance; his ongoing denial before and after the campaign of U.S. intelligence of Russian interference in the election; his claims of voter fraud and election rigging, which Watts said was pushed by RT and Sputnik; and Trump’s questioning of the citizenship of former President Barack Obama and even his primary rival Ted Cruz. 

Watts added that one of the reasons such tactics are working is that Trump and/or his surrogates have repeated some of the claims, further spreading them through social media accounts that are owned both by real people and bots. Thus, the disinformation is kept alive and gradually becomes more real and plausible. “Part of the reason active measures work is because they parrot the same lines,” Watts said.

Yesterday was a day when an enormous amount of excrement met the fan blades, but this statement to me was perhaps the most important thing that we heard.

Trump took what was being fed to him by Russian operatives and used it to attack and discredit his opponents in the primary, and Hillary Clinton in the general.

In short he was not simply helped by internet trolls who support him and attacked others, he himself was one of those internet trolls brought to life. 

NBC News reports on Donald Trump's problems with lying as his approval ratings plummet.

THIS is what NBC News is starting off their broadcast with tonight following the Comey hearings this morning.

No longer is there any pussyfooting about Trump's false statements, NOW they are simply calling him what he is.

A liar.

And if that were not bad enough Trump's approval ratings are now reflecting the American people's lack of confidence in his ability to do the job and their ability to trust anything that he says.

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

President Donald Trump’s latest approval rating has sunk to a new low, according to the latest Gallup poll. 

Only 37 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, and 58 percent disapprove, the daily poll found Sunday. Those are the worst ratings since he took office eight weeks ago. His approval rating stood at 45 percent just nine days ago. 

Trump’s approval rating is lower than any other president at this point in his first term since Gallup started tracking the numbers 72 years ago in 1945. Barack Obama’s rating at this point in his presidency was 60 percent.

And remember, this was BEFORE the Comey hearing this morning.

Wait until it starts to hit negative numbers. 

White House has a Twitter meltdown during Comey hearing.

FBI Director Comey refuses to deny he briefed President Obama on calls made by Michael Flynn to Russia. pic.twitter.com/cUZ5KgBSYP

— President Trump (@POTUS) March 20, 2017

I am not entirely sure what point they were trying to make with this tweet, as there were a WHOLE LOT of questions that James Comey answered in a similar fashion.

The NSA and FBI tell Congress that Russia did not influence electoral process. pic.twitter.com/d9HqkxYBt5

— President Trump (@POTUS) March 20, 2017

This one on the other hand was pretty obvious as the White House was clearly hoping this would stop people from suggesting that the Russians stole the election for Trump.

However as Wonkette points out this tweet was actually refuted during the still ongoing hearing:  

In this clip, Nunes is asking whether there is any clear evidence that Russian interference literally flipped vote tallies (like on voting machines) in specific states. Comey and Rogers say no. That is VERY DIFFERENT from saying “Russia did not influence [the] electoral process.” This is simply a #FakeNews lie from the White House, and as such, it can fuck right off. 

For the record, JUST NOW, a Democrat asked Comey to respond to this tweet, and he said he did NOT intend to give the impression the Trump White House is giving, with its lie tweet. JUST FYI.

NSA Director Rogers tells Congress unmasking individuals endangers national security. pic.twitter.com/jTwjPINvNh

— President Trump (@POTUS) March 20, 2017

Also fairly clear why the WH likes this answer because if somebody had not leaked the fact that Mike Flynn was drunk dialing Russia Trump would not have had to fire his ass.

And then would we ever have learned that he was working as a foreign agent for Turkey?

FBI Director Comey says classified leaks to the media have been “unusually active” recently. pic.twitter.com/WumDJSqaFA

— President Trump (@POTUS) March 20, 2017

Yeah, no shit!

People are worried about the future of our country. Of course they are leaking!

FBI Director Comey admits Obama’s White House had ability to “unmask” American citizens. https://t.co/gIo6it9NcQ

— President Trump (@POTUS) March 20, 2017

Here the WH is hinting that perhaps the Obama folks are the source of all the leaks.

Wow, so subtle. 

FBI Director Comey: fmr. DNI Clapper "right" to say no evidence of collusion between Russia and Trump Campaign. #ComeyHearing pic.twitter.com/MqBG2xd4s7

— President Trump (@POTUS) March 20, 2017

To be clear this is only saying that in the intelligence report from January of this year there was no evidence of collusion.

However neither Comey nor NSA Director Rogers would comment on what they have learned since that report.

All in all these tweets smell of desperation.

What we DID learn definitely today is that there is NO evidence that the Obama Administration wiretapped Trump Tower, and that there IS an ongoing FBI investigation into Trump's campaign ties to Russia.

You will notice that the WH did not tweet about either of those facts. 

So to be clear Trump was once again shown to be a liar, and is currently being investigated for possible collusion with the foreign government that hacked our election.

Rep. Adam Schiff's opening remarks before the Comey hearing were epic!

Schiff laid out the entire case, as it is publicly known, against Donald Trump and his team in clear and unambiguous language, and it was amazing.

FBI Director James Comey, and others, will testify before the House Intelligence Committee.

Courtesy of Bloomberg News:  

FBI Director James Comey has been asked to testify along with several former Obama administration officials before the House Intelligence Committee for its first public hearing on its investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Committee chairman Devin Nunes said Tuesday that he has also invited National Security Agency chief Mike Rogers, former director of national intelligence James Clapper, former CIA director John Brennan, former acting attorney general Sally Yates and two executives from CrowdStrike Inc., a cybersecurity company, to the March 20 hearing. The California Republican added that none of invitees have been issued subpoenas, and that additional witnesses may be added. 

The hearing will likely be the first in-depth public inquiry into allegations of connections between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and the Russian government, as well as Russia’s efforts to influence the U.S. election.

I really do want to be excited by this prospect and to hope that it will lead to some actionable evidence.

However that becomes a little difficult knowing that this asshole is the chairman:  

Nunes told reporters Tuesday that he doesn’t believe the Russians conspired to help elect Trump, but that his committee will do "a full assessment" of that assertion.

Gee, I am just filled with confidence. 

Government Ethics Office upset that Trump cabinet picks scheduled for hearing next week have not submitted paperwork. Update!

Courtesy of HuffPo: 

The head of the Office of Government Ethics expressed alarm Saturday that the Senate would begin considering President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees for cabinet positions before they’ve been fully vetted for conflicts of interests. 

“As OGE’s Director, the announced hearing schedule for several nominees who have not completed the ethics review process is of great concern to me,” wrote OGE director Walter Shaub Jr. in a letter to Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). 

“This schedule has created undue pressure on OGE’s staff and agency ethics officials to rush through these important reviews,” he added. “More significantly, it has left some of the nominees with potentially unknown or unresolved ethics issues shortly before their scheduled hearings.” 

The letter comes ahead of a week in which there will be a flurry of hearings for Trump’s cabinet picks. There will be hearings on six nominees on Wednesday alone.

By the way this is no mere formality,  without this paperwork there is simply no way that these men can be considered for any position of responsibility in a presidential administration.

In fact it is the OGE's job to help these folks avoid any conflict of interest laws, something they simply cannot do without knowing what those conflicts might be.

MSNBC received access to correspondence which shows the OGE desperately trying to do their jobs, and being completely ignored by Trump and his transition team.

Here is what Elizabeth Warren had to say on the topic:

Confirmation hearings historically aren’t conducted until the @OfficeGovEthics certifies that each nominee has no unresolved conflicts.

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 7, 2017

This is ridiculous. @realDonaldTrump’s noms can’t drag their feet on ethics paperwork while their Senate friends try to run out the clock.

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 7, 2017

Cabinet officials must put our country's interests before their own. No conf hearings should be held until we’re certain that’s the case.

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 7, 2017

Personally I don't think that Donald Trump wants anybody in his administration that could pass an ethics investigation.

After all ethics never meant anything to him as a businessman, why should they matter now?

The only question remaining is do they matter to the American people?

Update: Reince "twice and" Priebus says that there is "no reason" for Trump's appointees to fill out government ethics paperwork. 

Let me remind you that until very recently this guy was the head of the RNC. 

During Senate hearing, intelligence community says they are more convinced than ever that the Russians hacked our election. Update!

(I am including Claire McCaskill's questioning of CIA Director Clapper because I found it to be one of the more entertaining exchanges. Though to be fair Lindsey Graham was a hoot to watch as well.)

Courtesy of CNN: 

In his opening questions to Clapper, Committee Chairman John McCain noted the Intelligence Community's conclusion that the cyberthefts and disclosures were intended to interfere with the US election process and could only have been authorized by Russia's most senior levels. 

"We stand actually more resolutely on the strength of that statement that we made on the seventh of October," Clapper said. After the election, the Intelligence Community concluded that at least one Russian motive had been to help Trump win. 

Clapper said that the hacking did not succeed in changing any vote tallies, but that it was impossible for intelligence to assess how the information released from the breaches affected voters' attitudes. 

McCain emphasized the Russian role and delivered an implicit rebuke to Trump, who has urged people to "move on" from the issue of Moscow-directed hacking.

I actually disagree that there is no evidence that the Russian hacks impacted the vote tallies.

In fact if you go through this timeline presented by ABC News you can see for yourself how the leaked information, carefully disseminated by Wikileaks over a period of four months, slowly eroded the trust for the DNC and later for Clinton herself.

I think without that, and the help of FBI Director Comey, Donald Trump would have had no way in hell of winning this election.

Wikileaks, which I now consider to be a propaganda outlet for Russia, also fed into conspiracy theories about a Clinton earpiece, and even diagnosed her with a fake disease. 

You do not get to hold yourself out as a paragon of truth and justice once you engage in that kind of conspiratorial nonsense.

Clapper and McCain also have little use for Julian Assange:  

McCain asked Clapper whether Assange had endangered men and women serving the US with his earlier release of State Department cables. 

"Yes, he has," Clapper said. 

McCain then asked whether Assange should be accorded any credibility -- another implicit rebuke of Trump. Clapper responded, "No, he should not."

And yet this is the guy that Donald Trump thinks the American people should listen to and consider as reputable as our own intelligence agencies.

I have to admit that I was really fascinated by the hearing, and watched the entire thing from start to finish.

At one point Director Clapper was asked by Lindsey Graham if he was prepared to be challenged by Donald Trump tomorrow when he provides a briefing, and he smiled and said yes and that he welcomes the exchange.

In other words Clapper, and the other intelligence professionals, are confident that the information that they have to share will be more than enough to convince even someone as dimwitted as Donald Trump.

It will be interesting to see if tomorrow's Trump tweets don't have a completely different tenor than the ones before the briefing.

For example:

How did NBC get "an exclusive look into the top secret report he (Obama) was presented?" Who gave them this report and why? Politics!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017

The Democratic National Committee would not allow the FBI to study or see its computer info after it was supposedly hacked by Russia......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017

So how and why are they so sure about hacking if they never even requested an examination of the computer servers? What is going on?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017

By the way considering what James Comey did to sabotage Hillary's chances of winning the election, I do not blame the DNC for keeping the FBI away from their hard drives.

If in fact that's what happened. 

Update: Former CIA Director, James Wolsey, has just quit as a Trump advisor. 

I am not sure what that means, but I bet it means something.

Republicans learn the hard way that when they hold a hearing to rail against Wall Street reform, they may want to lock the doors before Elizabeth Warren walks through them.

Courtesy of Salon: 

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans on the Banking Committee decided to finally hold a hearing to “assess the effects of consumer finance regulations”– little more than another attempt to rail against Wall Street regulation like the Dodd-Frank law. Ostensibly, the hearing would have granted Republicans the opportunity to shed their “do nothing” image while simultaneously continuing to espouse their mantra of deregulation. Too bad Elizabeth Warren also showed up for her day job on Tuesday, completely eviscerating the Republicans’ main witness and destroying their tired talking points. 

“Of all the people who might be called on,” Warren said of Republicans’ lead witness Leonard Chanin, former Deputy Director of the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs at the Federal Reserve Board, “I am surprised that my Republican colleagues would chose a witness who might have one of the worst track records in history on this issue.”

I actually thought that Warren would climb over her lectern and throttle Chanin when he claimed there was no data that predicted that the mortgage bubble was about to crash.

Warren is a rock star and I am still holding out for the idea of Hillary Clinton picking her to join her on the Democratic ticket in 2016.

P.S. By the way if you want a real understanding of the 2008 financial crisis I cannot suggest a better source than the 2015 movie "The Big Short."

I watched it last week and it is excellent and just a little tirade inducing.